Stock markets wobbled and oil prices sank on Friday over growing fears that inflation-fighting interest rate hikes by central banks could trigger recessions.
Investors were shaken this week after the US Federal Reserve unleashed its biggest hike in borrowing costs for almost 30 years to tackle runaway consumer prices.
This was followed by the fifth straight hike by the Bank of England and the first in 15 years by the Swiss central bank, underscoring the growing global concerns about inflation.
The moves caused a global selloff on Thursday. US and European markets tried to stage a rebound on Friday, but some indices were back in the red later in the day.
On Wall Street, the Dow Industrial Average fell back under 30,000 points near midday while the broad-based S&P 500 was flat and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose one percent.
European markets seesawed, with London finishing in the red, Paris almost flat and Frankfurt closing higher.
“Sentiment has been shattered and equities could suffer further,” Craig Erlam, analyst at online trading platform OANDA, told AFP.
Sentiment turned sour again as US official data showed industrial production in May had risen by just 0.2 percent, much slower than April and weaker than expected.
“We see that the positive attempts get rapidly killed as the market prices in a higher recession risk as inflation doesn’t ease,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, analyst at Swissquote bank, told AFP.
Asian stock markets mostly closed lower Friday.
Recession fears also gripped the oil market as WTI, the US benchmark, fell by 5.6 percent to $108.83 per barrel. The international benchmark, Brent North Sea Crude, was down almost five percent at $114.08.
Energy prices have soared since Russia invaded Ukraine, driven inflation higher, which has prompted central banks to spring into action.
– BoJ bucks the trend –
Investors worry that while the rate increases can help tame inflation, they can have the adverse side effect of crimping economic growth.
The Bank of Japan, however, bucked the global trend on Friday as it stood by its decision not to raise its rate, sending the yen close to the lowest level against the dollar since 1998.
Officials in Tokyo insist that low rates are still needed to nurture a struggling economy, though the BoJ did say it “was necessary to pay due attention to developments in financial and foreign exchange markets”.
Stock markets have been tumbling for months as traders contemplate the end of the era of cheap cash that had sent share prices to record or multi-year highs.
Inflation worldwide stands at levels not seen for decades owing in particular to surges in energy and food prices.
– Key figures at around 1510 GMT –
New York – Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 29,867.12 points
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,016.25
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.7 percent at 13,126.26
Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.1 percent at 5,882.65
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.3 percent at 3,438.46
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.8 percent at 25,963.00 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.1 percent at 21,075.00 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.0 percent at 3,316.79 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0469 from $1.0549 late Thursday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2208 from $1.2353
Euro/pound: UP at 85.77 pence from 85.41 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 135.07 yen from 132.21 yen
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 4.8 percent at $114.08 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 5.6 percent at $108.83
burs-lth/har
© Agence France-Presse
